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York man claimed £17k benefits despite having £70k savings

A YORK man who claimed £17,000 in benefits even though he had hidden savings and capital of £70,000 has been prosecuted and sentenced at York Crown Court.

Christopher Weaver, 47, claimed housing and council tax benefit because he was on a low income, but did not tell City of York Council about the £70,000 he had in savings.

Weaver, of Merton Court, was handed a sentence of 250 hours unpaid work and ordered to repay the £16,982.33 he had wrongly claimed, as well as £2,174.84 in costs, when he appeared in court on Thursday, August 21.

Staff from Veritau, the council’s fraud investigation service, found he had the savings during the seven years that he was claiming benefits. He still had £30,000 in savings when the fraud came to light in 2013.

In all, Weaver was paid £14,403.79 in housing benefit and £2,578.33 in council tax benefit that he was not entitled to.

Anybody with information about benefit fraud is urged to contact City of York Council by calling 01904 552935 or emailing fraud@ york.gov.uk